neral duty to his country. As long as he held the situation of Member, he was, if the Honourable Gentleman pleased, a piece of mechanism in the hands of his conftituents. It was by every Member fpeaking for the particular interests of his conftituents, that the general interefts of the whole were confulted. Sir W. Geary faid, it was particularly neceffary at present to reprobate that doctrine, becaufe on fuch an attention to local interefts the Irish might be alarmed at the fmalinefs of their share in the reprefentation. For his part, if the Union took place, though he fhould confider himself particularly bound to pay attention to the business of his immediate conftituents, he should hold himself bound to pay as much regard to the intereft of the county of Dublin as the county of Kent. The 3d and 4th Refolutions were then read and agreed to. The 5th Refolution, amended by the introduction of the "Church of Scotland," was read and agreed to. A flight alteration was made in the 6th Resolution, which, with the others, was alfo read and agreed to. The Chancellor of the Exchequer moved, "That the faid Refolutions be communicated to the Lords in a conference, and that their concurrence be required thereto; "That a conference be defired with the Lords with refpect to the means of improving and perpetuating an Union with Ireland, and confolidating the ftrength, power, and refources of both kingdoms;" "That Lord Temple do acquaint the Lords with the defire of this Houfe."-Agreed to. Mr. Tierney afked, when it was intended to move the Addrefs to his Majefty? The Chancellor of the Exchequer replied, that he meant to fuggeft the propriety of waiting till the Lords had decided upon the refolutions, and then to propose a joint Address of both Houfes.-Adjourned, HOUSE OF COMMONS. Mr. Manning gave notice that on Monday the 18th he fhould move, that the proceedings upon the Bill for the improvement of the Port of London in the year 1796, and the minutes before the Committee in 1797 upon that Bill, be referred to the Committee to whom the prefent Wet Dock Bill was referred. Mr. Wilberforce gave notice that on Thurfday the 21ft, he should move for the abolition of the Slave Trade. Sir Philip Stevens moved, for leave to bring in a Bill for regulating his Majefty's Marine Forces while on fhore.Mr. Abbet moved for feveral documents relative to the ftate of the Funded Debt, &c.-Ordered.-Adjourned. HOUSE OF LORDS. Several Bills were brought up from the Commons, prefented at the Bar, and read a first time. A Meffage was then delivered by Lord Temple, importing, that the Commons defired a conference with their Lordships in confequence of his Majefty's moft gracious Meffage, on the fubject "of confidering and providing in the manner in which they fhould think moft expedient for fettling fuch a complete and final adjustment between this kingdom and Ireland, as may beft tend to improve and perpetuate a connexion effential for their common fecurity, and to confolidate the ftrength, power, and refources of the British empire." The Lord Chancellor having read the Meffage, the Earl of Chatham moved, That a conference be prefently held in the Painted Chamber, agreeable to the request of the Commons. The queftion was immediately put, and the fame was ordered accordingly. The Meffengers were then again called to the Bar, and the Lord Chancellor, in the ufual form, notified it from the Woolfack to Lord Temple and the other Members of the Houfe of Commons, who were attending at the Bar. The conference was presently held, Lord Chatham being the Prefident, (as first named) the Earl of Spencer, Lord Grenville, Lord Sydney, Lord Auckland, Lord Buckinghamfhire, Lord Fauconberg, and Lord Bayning, the Bishops of Rochester and Exeter, and other Peers, were the Managers appointed to hold the conference, and having heard that the Members deputed by the Commons to manage the conference on the part of that House, waited for them in the Painted Chamber, went thither directly, and foon returned with a copy of the Refolutions voted by the House of Commons on the fubject of the propofed Union with Ireland, which were read by the clerk at the table, and on the motion of the Earl of Chatham, were ordered to be printed; the motion was agreed to, nemine diffentiente. Lord Grenville rofe and faid, that though it was not the ufual practice to make any motion refpecting papers ordered to to be printed, until that order had been firft carried into effect, and the printed papers laid on the table, yet he believed fuch a procedure was warranted by the rules of the Houfe. He, therefore, felt himself at liberty to deviate from this practice, and take advantage of thefe rules, whenever he should think proper; and as he wished, in the prefent cafe, to act in conformity with this opinion, he gave notice that as foon as the papers fhould be printed, he would move for their being taken into confideration on Monday next. Lord Auckland faid, he rofe merely to move for fome papers that would be abfolutely neceflary to prove what important and valuable facrifices in point of commercial advantage, and manufacture, this country was willing to make to Ireland, with a view to the fecuring a clofer connexion between the two countries. He stated, that as the discusfion of the prefent question would involve the commercial intercourse between the two kingdoms in its fullest extent, there were feveral papers neceffary to enable their Lordships to acquire a perfect knowledge of the fubject. It was, therefore, his intention to move, that an account of the imports and exports of Great Britain, for four years, preceding the 5th of February, 1793, diftinguishing thofe to and from Ireland particularly, be laid before the House.Thefe, he faid, would comprehend the linen, cotton, and other material articles of commerce between the two countries. If any Noble Lord could point out any other documents effential to a complete view of the fubject, he would thank him for his fuggeftion, as at prefent those which he had stated were all that feemed to him neceffary for the purpofe; and from them it would appear, that in confequence of the commercial advantages which the has derived from England, Ireland was as capable of attaining wealth and prof perity, as any province of the British empire. He declared, he meant cautioufly to avoid entering in the fmallest degree upon the fubject of the Refolutions themselves, which he fhould certainly deliver his fentiments upon fully when the proper time for confideration fhould come. That he knew was not the fit moment for faying a word upon them further, but he begged leave, even at that early opportunity, to deprecate fuch a construction being put upon any arguments that he might urge, or that might fall from any other Peer, who thought with him that the proposed Union was a meafure highly favourable and advantageous to Ireland, that what they faid was intended to operate as a menace to Ire land. land. He was perfuaded, that no one noble Lord, let his own opinion be ever fo ftrong in favour of the measure, would entertain any fuch fentiment, or after what had passed across the water, think of preffing fo unwelcome a favour on a people who had fo decidedly declared their unwillingness to receive it-His Lordship concluded with moving"That there be laid before the Houfe an account of the Imports and Exports of Great Britain during the four last years preceding the year 1793, fpecifying thofe articles, together with the amount of the fame, exported to and imported from Ireland in that period." Lord Holland faid, he certainly rofe not to object to the production of the papers; poffibly those moved for by the noble Lord might be ufeful, and in general he owned he was a friend to the production of papers, as often as any were called for and defired to be laid on the table; but he must fay that the time chofen by the noble Lord to produce fuch papers as he had moved for was ill chofen and ungenerous. They all knew how decidedly the Houfe of Commons of Ireland had refufed even to entertain the difcuffion of the question refpecting the propofed Union, and to move for papers calculated to make a boaftful display of the mighty facrifices in point of the commercial advantage Great Britain was willing to make, as the price of a compact, which Ireland had, by the voice of one of her Houses of Parliament, refufed to listen to on any terms, was in his judgment unworthy the generofity and greatnefs of mind that ought to be the characteristic of every part of the conduct of this country towards the fifter kingdom. He certainly was not entitled to confider the noble Lord's motion as a threat to Ireland, after what the noble Lord had faid in deprecation of such a conftruction, but he must repeat that, under the peculiar circumstances of the cafe, though generally a friend to motions for papers, he must confider the prefent motion of the noble Lord as extremely ill-timed and ungenerous. He agreed with the noble Lord that he could not regularly go into a difcuffion of the fubject of the refolutions just brought up, and moved to be printed, till they were upon the table, and the day named for their confideration came. On that day he certainly would deliver his fentiments upon the fubject; at prefent he had only rifen, because he thought it his duty to fay how he felt refpecting the motion of the noble Lord. Lord Grenville faid, that undoubtedly after what had paffed refpecting the refolutions, it would not only be extremely irregular, irregular, but highly difrefpectful to the Houfe if any noble Lord were to rife to enter into a premature difcuffion of the fubject at that moment. He had no fuch intention, but he could not avoid expreffing his furprife at hearing an objection made to a motion for papers neceffary for the information of the Houfe on fo important a part of the great fubject which was to be fubmitted to their confideration on a future day, as that which would fhew the present state of the commercial intercourfe between Great Britain and Ireland by an average of years preceding the war. Surely to enable the Houfe duly to confider the whole of the important meafure in queftion, it was a matter most desirable to have the fullest information upon the subject that could be obtained, and let what would have been faid upon it in any other place, that Houfe having had the refolutions brought up from the Commons, were bound, on every confideration of public duty and perfonal refpect, to entertain the difcuffion of them, and to come to fome decifion refpecting them. For the prefent he would not further detain their Lordships than merely to fay, that as the noble Lord had given notice that when the day for confideration came, he would deliver his fentiments upon the fubject, he would be glad to hear those fentiments, whatever they might be, and would take the fame opportunity of delivering his own. Lord Rawdon (the Earl of Moira) rofe, but not, he said, to go out of the limits prescribed by the noble Secretary of State, and enter into a premature difcullion of the fubject; he meant merely to declare that, after the decifion of the Houfe of Commons of Ireland upon it was known, and the temper of that kingdom in general refpecting it was well understood the whole of the proceeding with it in the British Parliament, appeared to him to be utterly incomprehenfible. He agreed, however, with the noble Secretary, that it was not proper to enter on the difcuflion of the measure till the neceffary papers were laid on the table; but he alfo agreed with the noble Lord near him (Holland), that after what had paffed on the subject in Ireland, it was improper for the Parliament of this country to proceed any further in it. He did not mean to object to the motion of the noble Lord, because the papers he had moved for might be proper to be upon the table; but he thought them inapplicable to the fubject, and, when the day for difcuffion came, he certainly hould ftate his opinion upon the fubject. Lord Darnley declared it was not his intention to have faid one word upon the fubject that day, because he agreed com pletely |